Ill. town to honor WWII veteran with street

May. 9, 2014 - 08:52AM
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AURORA, ILL. — The city of Aurora plans to name a street after a late World War II Medal of Honor recipient.

Aurora officials say they’ll dedicate Walter E. Truemper Lane on May 17. He was from Aurora.

According to city veterans officials and military accounts, Truemper was a 2nd lieutenant on assignment in 1944 as navigator of a B-17 bomber. It came under attack, incapacitating the pilot and damaging the plane. A commanding officer told those aboard to parachute, but Truemper and others said they didn’t want to desert the pilot. Truemper and others died trying to land the plane.

The U.S. Army Center of Military History says Truemper was awarded, in part, for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.”